AMID suffocating atmosphere prevailing in the state, where democratic movements are meted with repression, the people of Tripura have once again shaken the state with the slogan “BJP Hatao, DeshBachao”  on August 9, 2021. In response to the call of the joint forum of central trade unions and SamjuktaKishanMorcha, the programme was launched in the state jointly by several mass and class organisations namely AIKS, CITU, Agri workers union, Ganamukti Parishad, women’s, youth and students’ organisations.

MORE than 12 years have passed since the India US nuclear deal was signed. Pranab Mukherjee, then India's External Affairs Minister, and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, signed the U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement in October 2008. The deal was sold to the Indian people as a magic wand to meet India's energy needs, and end India's recurring power cuts. Those who wear made-in-America blinkers refuse to recognise that the success of the India US nuclear deal has to be tested against the benchmark of whether it met any of India's energy needs.

DELHI Union of Journalists (DUJ), in association with the Press Club of India, met on August 7 to discuss the topic “From Defamation to Sedition to Pegasus” organised by the National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ).Senior advocate and analyst Sanjay Hegde, said India was now becoming one of the most unsafe countries for independent journalists. “The modus operandi of the government has assumed a certain gradation -if you can't shut down people with defamation then shut them down with sedition," he said.Propaganda is the order of the day.

THERE is a huge gap to access to resources which is also reflected in the access to the technology (smartphones, laptops, uninterrupted internet, etc.), badly failing the online mode of education— the only option adopted by the centre in last one year to compensate, closure of educational institutions.The loss of students due to closure of schools cannot be easily understood as many still think that it costed only the loss of classroom teaching and textbook learning. The impact is much more severe and complex.

THE workers of India have observed ‘Save India Day’ on August 9 in over a lakh locations across the country over 14 demands including the demand to scrap the anti-worker labour codes and anti-people farm laws and Electricity Amendment Bill. Despite the lockdown restrictions, workers have participated in the protest programmes as per the call given by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions, and Independent Federations and Associations.